Collective Worship

Collective Worship at St Mary’s

Prayer and liturgy is an important part of our school life. We have four daily prayers which we pray communally (shared below), and we also encourage children to engage in moments of private prayer. Prayer is also an important part of our RE lessons.

We have a variety of sacred spaces around school, including in our foyer, hall, offices, in the classrooms, and in our Reflection Room. These promote opportunities for spontaneous prayer.

We pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and other traditional prayers in school, however our pupils also like to write their own prayers. Children are supported and encouraged from an early age to spend quiet time in reflection and/or prayer. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one example of when our pupils and staff have the opportunity to do this.

Prayer and Liturgy

Timetable

Here is our current timetable for Prayer and Liturgy at St Mary’s:

Monday Whole School Celebration of the Word based on Sunday’s Gospel (Led by the Chaplaincy Team and supported by a Senior Leader)
Tuesday Hymn Practice
Wednesday Class Celebration of the Word (in Classrooms)
Thursday Statements to Live By / Themed Assembly (Led by Class Teachers)
Friday Celebration Assembly – ‘Shining Lights’ (Led by Y6)

Planning our Worship

When we plan prayer and liturgies at St Mary’s, we use the planning documents created by the NDCYS. We also use their resources to help us evaluate our liturgies too. Their wonderful Extra-Ordo-nary document can be a useful tool for liturgy planning, especially for Wednesday’s Class Celebrations of the Word which are based on the ‘Word of the Week’.

Our School Prayers

Morning Offering

Father in Heaven,

I give you today

all that I think and do and say,

and are united with all that is done,

by Jesus Christ your dearest Son.

Amen

Prayer Before Lunch

This meal O God is a sign of your love for us,

bless Lord those who prepared it and be with us as we eat.

Amen

Prayer After Lunch

Thank you God for the food we have eaten,

Please send help to those who do not have enough to eat.

Amen

End of the School Day Prayer

God our Father

I come to say,

thank you for your love today.

Thank you for my family,

and all the friends you give to me.

Guard me in the dark of night

and in the morning send your light.

Amen

Trust Prayer

God Our Father,

Give us strength so that, guided by Our Lady’s example,

we can have the courage to say yes to you.

Help us to love like she loves, have faith like she has

and follow Jesus’ example in all that we do.

Inspire in all of us a sense of togetherness, so that we can use

the gifts you have given us for the good of all in our community

and bring support and healing to those less fortunate than ourselves.

We ask Our Lady to guide us, just as she guided St Bernadette,

as we seek to bring Jesus’ message of love

and forgiveness to others.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, Our Lord.

Amen

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us

St Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us

Examples of Prayer and Liturgy at Saint Mary's

Harvest Festival - October 2023

In October 2023, we held our annual harvest festival. We had a special Celebration of the Word which included contributions during our response section from every class. Classes responded in different ways, with some sharing artwork, poetry, psalms and songs. Our school community donated very generously and we were delighted to pass these on to the Boston Foodbank who were extremely grateful.

Stations of the Cross - March 2024

During Holy Week 2024, a group of KS2 children worked extremely hard on their own ‘Living Stations of the Cross’. With the support of Mrs Crawford-Scott and Mrs Wright, through freeze frames and narration the pupils led the whole school and several visitors (including Moira Dales, Graham Green, Linda Heaver along with other special guests) in the Stations of the Cross. It was conducted with such respect that our visitors commented on the prayerful atmosphere that the pupils had been able to create and the wider school community responded well too. It helped us all reflect on the importance of Holy Week and on Jesus’ passion and death which all occurred because of his great love for us all.

Year 5 Faith in Action Team - Celebration of the word for India project

In July, the Year 5 pupils from our Faith in Action team delivered a whole school Celebration of the word to raise awareness about a disadvantaged community in Bangalore. They chose the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats as their scripture and talked about how they wanted to help this community. As their mission, they encouraged everyone to colour a kindness card that could be sent to the care home in Bangalore. They invited Maureen, the representative from the parish who had been to visit Year 5 to talk to them about this project in February, and they also invited their parents and parishioners. It was lovely to see these children colouring their own kindness cards with their grown ups after the Celebration of the word. They also left some lovely feedback for the children.